DAILY PONDERABLES
Together WE Trudge The Road OF Happy Destiny
Daily Reflections
SERVING MY BROTHER
The member talks to the newcomer not in a spirit of power but in a spirit of humility and weakness.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS COMES OF AGE, p. 279
As the days pass in A.A., I ask God to guide my thoughts and the words that I speak. In this labor of continuous participation in the Fellowship, I have numerous opportunities to speak. So I frequently ask God to help me watch over my thoughts and my words, that they may be the true and proper reflections of our program; to focus my aspirations once again to seek His guidance; to help me be truly kind and loving, helpful and healing, yet always filled with humility, and free from any trace of arrogance.
Today I may very well have to deal with disagreeable attitudes or utterances --- the typical stock-in-trade attitude of the still-suffering alcoholic. If this should happen, I will take a moment to center myself in God, so that I will be able to respond from a perspective of composure, strength and sensibility.
From the book Daily Reflections
© Copyright 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought for the Day
To grasp the A.A. program, we have to think things out. Saint Paul said: "They are transformed by the renewing of their minds." We have to learn to think straight. We have to change from alcoholic thinking to sober thinking. We must build up a new way of looking at things. Before we came into A.A., we wanted an artificial life of excitement and everything that goes with drinking. That kind of a life looked normal to us then. But as we look back now, that life looks the exact opposite of normal. In fact, it looks most abnormal. We must reeducate our minds. Am I changing from an abnormal thinker to a normal thinker?
Meditation for the Day
I will take the most crowded day without fear. I believe that God is with me and controlling all. I will let confidence be the motif running through all the crowded day. I will not get worried, because I know that God is my helper. Underneath are the everlasting arms. I will rest in them, even though the day is full of things crowding in upon me.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may be calm and let nothing upset me. I pray that I may not let material things control me and choke out spiritual things.
From the book Twenty-Four Hours a Day
© Copyright 1975 by Hazelden Foundation
NA - Just for Today
Unity and uniformity
“Unity is a must in Narcotics Anonymous.”
Basic Text, p. 63
Unity is not uniformity. Unity springs from the fact that we have unity of purpose—to recover, and to help others stay clean. Even so, we often find that while we strive to fulfill the same purpose, our means and methods may be radically different.
We can’t impose our ideas of unity on others or confuse unity with uniformity. In fact, a big attraction of the NA program is the absence of uniformity. Unity springs from our common purpose, not from standards imposed on the group by a few well-meaning members. A group that has the unity which springs from the loving hearts of its members allows each addict to carry the message in his or her own unique way.
In our dealings with each other in NA, we sometimes disagree rather vocally. We must remember that the details of how we get things done isn’t always important, so long as we keep our focus on the group’s primary purpose. We can watch members who vehemently disagree over trivial things pull together when a newcomer reaches out for help. Someone was there for us when we got to the rooms of NA. Now it is our turn to be there for others. We need unity to help show the newcomer that this way of life works.
Just for today: I will strive to be a part of unity. I know that unity does not equal uniformity.
From the book Just for Today
© Copyright 1991-2013 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought for Today
"A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle."
--Erin Majors
"What they do doesn't matter. It's 'What do I do when they do what they do?' "
Feed Them
Knead love into the bread you bake;
wrap courage and strength into the parcel you tie for the woman with the weary face;
hand trust and candor with the coin given to the man with suspicious eyes.
These are my children. I
in truth and light, “feed them.”
Angela M.
Buddha/Zen Thoughts
Take heed that when effort is too strenuous it leads to strain and when too slack to laziness. So make a firm determination that you will adopt the middle way, not allowing yourself to struggle or to slacken, but recognizing that faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom are the fruits of a calm and equable way.
-Theragatha
Native American
"This is the time of awakening to the inner father and the inner mother. Without this we will receive no high initiation; instead we get initiated into darkness. That's because any investigation or revolution without God leads, not to freedom, but to more slavery."
--Willaru Huayta, QUECHAU NATION, PERU
Honor the Father and the Mother. Father stands for wisdom and Mother stands for feelings. Inside each of us is the Father and the Mother. If we do not honor both, we will not grow in balance. To honor both the Father and the Mother helps our masculine and feminine sides grow. The winter season is a good time to focus on this. This is our season of reflection. Honoring both sides allows us to see the Creator is both Father and Mother.
Great Spirit, Father Sky, Mother Earth, guide me today. Let me experience balance.
Keep It Simple
What is defeat?...Nothing but the first step to something better.
--- Wendell Phillips
A man walks into a meeting. He says," I surrender. I can't drink like other folks." We smile and welcome him. We know that feeling. All of us in the program must admit defeat. Our illness is more powerful than we are. We begin recovery when we surrender. Admitting defeat is our first step into a beautiful world. Like all first steps, it's hard. But what a world we find ourselves in! A world where we count. A world where all are really equal! This first step brings us into God's world of care. We get love. We give love. We stay sober because daily we admit defeat.
Prayer for the Day: In surrender, I can't drink and use other drugs. I'm different. Higher Power, help me surrender daily.
Action for the Day: Every so often, I need to admit defeat and talk about what it was like, what happened, and where I am now.
Big Book
"We have seen the truth demonstrated again and again: 'Once an
alcoholic, always an alcoholic.' Commencing to drink after a period
of sobriety, we are in a short time as bad as ever."
Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, More About Alcoholism, pg. 33
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The Simple Approach to the 12 Steps!
• There's a power that will kill me.
• There's a power that wants me to live.
• Which do I want? (If you want to die, stop here. If you want to live, go on.)
• Using examples from your own life, understand that selfishness, dishonesty, resentment, and fear control your actions.
• Tell all your private, embarrassing secrets to another person.
• Decide whether or not you want to live that way any more.
• If you want your life to change, ask a power greater than yourself to change it for you. (If you could have changed it yourself, you would have long ago.)
• Figure out how to make right all the things you did wrong.
• Fix what you can without causing more trouble in the process.
• Understand that making mistakes is part of being human (When you make a mistake, fix it, immediately if you can.)
• Ask for help to treat yourself and others the way you want your higher power to treat you.
• Don't stop doing 1 through 11, and Pass It On!!
--Author Unknown
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